Nowadays, the advancement of thermoconductive electromagnetic
interference
(EMI) shielding materials for the next generation of electronics is
in high demand. We present, in this research, the fabrication of the
highly thermoconductive nanopapers based on aramid nanofiber (ANF)
and ultralong copper nanowires (ULCuNWs) with outstanding EMI shielding
effectiveness (SE) and mechanical properties. A homogeneous red brick
color nanopaper (thickness 40–50 μm) was fabricated by
homogenizing a mixture of the ULCuNWs (10–40 wt %) in the ANF
suspension, then vacuum filtration, and drying. The morphology of
the nanopapers reveals that the ULCuNWs were uniformly dispersed and
interweaved with ANF to form two-dimensional (2D) layers in the nanopapers.
With the increase in the ULCuNWs content, the nanopaper shows outstanding
mechanical properties and reaches the optimal tensile strength (σ)
of 228 MPa and Young’s modulus of 6.12 GPa at the filler content
of 30 wt %. Moreover, the variation of the in-plane thermal conductivity
(λ//) and EMI SE of the nanopapers strongly depends
on the amount of the ULCuNWs; the ULCuNWs30/ANF nanopapers obtain
a notable λ// and EMI SE of around 8.25 W·m–1·K1 and 54.7 dB, respectively, with
the mass content of 30 wt % at ambient conditions. The thermal treatment
of the ULCuNWs30/ANF nanopapers at 180 °C increases the λ// and EMI SE by 60% and 9%, respectively. The ULCuNWs30/ANF
nanopaper demonstrates an impressive heat dissipating capability.
In addition, the ULCuNWs/ANF nanopapers show eminent thermal stability
up to 500 °C and flame retardancy with an extremely low total
heat release of 0.72 kJ·g–1. Therefore, ULCuNWs/ANF
nanopapers can be considered great potential materials alternative
to the current thermoconductive materials for heat dissipating applications
in modern electronics.